Vaporizing apparatus



May 19, 1942- w. L lsTg-:R A 2,283,562

' vAPoRIzING APPARATUS l Original FiledMay 27, 1939 3 SheetsSheet 1 May 19, `1942. w, USTER 2,283,562

vAPoRIzING APPARATUS f original FiledMay 27. 1959 s sheefs-sheetvz May 1 9, 1942. f w. L lsTER 2,283,562

' vAPoRIzING APPARATUS original Filed May 27, 1959 s sheetsshee't s Patented May 19, 1942 UETED rss T OF FIYCE VAPORIZING APPARATUS Y William Lister, Chicago, Ill.

Claims. (Cl. 123-133) AMy invention is concerned with a novel means and method for vaporizing or volatilizing diiierent grades of oil so that they can be used in an engine without the necessity of replacing the carburetor or similar mechanism when 'the kind of fuel is to be changed.

To this end, it consists of a novel vaporizing mechanism .associated with means for heating the oil before it reaches the vaporizerand a thermostat which can be set to turn off or reduce the action of the heating means at different temperatures, so that there will be'no danger of raising the temperature'of the particular oil used beyond its flash point, and thereby causing an `explosion before it is vaporized and forced into the associated engine to be exploded to furnish power inthe customary manner. Y

'To illustrate my invention, I .annex :hereto three sheetsfof drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to :designate :identical parts in all the figures, of VWhich- .Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a rotary engine and its associatedelements included inthenovel system;

Fig. 2 vis a top plan viewof the same, but with the pump omitted;

Fig. 3 -is a .central vertical section through theA vola-tilizer, as seen on the line 3-3 -of Fig. 4;

Figs. 4 'and r5 are horizontal sections through the volatilizer as seen on the 'lines `4 4 and -5-5, respectively, of Fig. 3; l

Fig. 6 is a detailshowing vanother form of one of the volatilizer valves;

Fig. 7 is a central Vertical section, -on an '-enlarged scale, through the `balanced controlling valve, seen inside elevationin Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 yis a central Yverticalsection on an enlarged scale on the line B-of Fig. 2; A

Fig, 9 is a section 'on a larger scale on th line 9--9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of -a Aportion of the mechanism as seen from the right-hand side of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a detail of a check valve associated with the fuel pump and Aseen on a smaller scale 'in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 112 is a perspective view of the end of an expanding ring associated with the vaporizer.

.Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, 40 -is the rotary engine carried by .the heavy `base V-4I having the rotor shaft A42, mounted insuitable bearings in the heads 43 :and 44 -of the cylinder. -A sprocket Wheel 45, secured on the shaft 42 between the head 43 and the -fuel pump 46, v,mounted yon the .bracket 41 projecting from the head v43, drives the sprocket chain 48, which drives the sprocket wheels 49 and 50 o n the cam shafts 5I and 52 iournalled in the head 43 -and rin `the Valve casings 53 and 54. The valve casing 53 has a vshort compressor outlet pipe 55 connected `to the heatf ing chamber 56, through which the compressed air passes, and. which vpasses therefrom through the elbow .51 and connections hereinafter described to the vaporizer l58, `where the fueloil is vaporized `by the combined action of heat and compressed air, and thence passes through the short `pipe 59 to Vthe balanced .controlling valve 5), which inturn is connected to .t-he elbow 6I which furnishes the mixture inlet to the Valve casing 54. The fuel oilis/drawn from its supply through the pipe G2 having the manually op;

erated controlling valve 63 therein, and `passes through the union L64 containing the check valve 65 to the inlet 66 ofthe rotary pump 46, by which it is forced from the outlet vi'l through the pipe fili to the heating coil -69 in the chamber 56, thence through the continuation pipe 10 to the inlet port 'H of the vaporizer 5B. The ignition timer 12 may be secured on the Valve shaft 52,-as shown in Fig. 2.

As I intendY to utilize the vaporizer A58 to act on different oils :having dierent flash points, such as gasoline with its extremely` low flash point, .to crude oils having high ash points and needing high heat, itis essential to control the heating of the compressed air by the exhaust fumes. I will now `describe how it is regulated. It will be understood that the compressing of the air prior to its delivery to the heaterheats it considerably, but, especially for the heavy oils,

it is necessary to increase the heatl very much, and for this purpose I use the exhaust fumes from the motor. I have shown my present invention as applied to the motor shown in my Patent No. 2,162,861, dated June 20, 1939, where the motor and air compressor are combined, as

pipe 'i4 let into the center of the bottom plateV 'i5 yof, the heating chamber .56, the cylindrical body of which is'boltedbetween the bottom vplate 1,5 and the top plate 16. A smaller metal cylinder 'l-l is secured centrally vbetween the top and bottom plates. The fuel pipe 6.8 .is connected by the elbow 18 with a duplex helical coil 69 located in the cylinder 11 and emerging therefrom through the opening 19 into which the pipe 80 is threaded at its lower end, the upper end being threaded into the elbow 51 from which the horizontal pipe 8| extends into the port 84 of the vaporizer 58. The upper end of the duplex coil 69 passes through a gasket 82 in the elbow and is connected by the elbow 83 with a continuation 10 of the fuel pipe, which is threaded into the fuel entrance aperture 1| of the vaporizer 58V. The exhaust from the engine discharges into the pipe 85 which extends beneath the heating chamber 56 to any desired outlet for the fumes. A vertical pipe 86, extending downward from the bottom plate 15, is let into the pipe 85, and an outlet pipe 81 is connected to the elbow 88 from which a pipe 89 leads the diverted exhaust fumes to any desired point of discharge. A swinging valve 90, carried by the shaft v9| journalled in the pipes 85 and 86 at their junction, is pressed against the lug 92 in the pipe 85 by thespiral spring 93 secured at one end to the shaft 9|, and at the other end to the adjusting arm 94 fulcrumed on the end of the shaft 9|. and having the spring-pressed pin latch 95 sliding therein and adapted to enter any one of the several apertures 96 located in the dial disk 91 secured to the pipes 85, and 86, as seen in Fig. 9. These apertures are respectively noted on the dial 91 as intended for adjusting the tension of the spring 93 for using the apparatus with various oils, such as gasoline, kerosene, distillate and crude oils, as obviously the further the handle 94 is turned clockwise, the greater the tension of the spring 93 and the more rmly the valve 90 will be held against the lug 92, in which position the bulk of the exhaust fumes will pass through the pipe 86 and out of the pipe 89, necessarily heating the compressed air in the cylinder 11, which in turn heats the fuel oil in the duplex coil 69. As the heat increases, this duplex coil expands downward and I have utilized it as an effective thermostat element by having its lower end rest on the disk or spider 98 on the vertical rod 99 which extends downward through the gasket in the elbow 13, which gasket is adjusted so as to cause as little friction as possible on the rod 99, while preventing any serious leakage of the compressed air at that point. The lower end of the rod 99 is connected to the bell crank lever fulcrumed on the lug |02 projecting rdownwardly from the elbow 13, whose other end is connected by the link |03 with the arm I 04 secured to the other end of the shaft 9|.

The operation of this novel thermostat mechanism will now be readily understood. The arm 94`is adjusted tothe position required for the particular fuel to be used, and it will be understood that it may be swung around through more than 360 degrees, if necessary to secure the desired tension of the springand the apertures 96 may be marked accordingly. The pressure of the spring 93 will hold the valve 90 against the lug 92, thereby diverting most, or any desired portion, of the exhaust fumes through the heating chamber 56. When the temperature approaches the limit set for the particular fuel, the rod 99 will be forced downward by the lengthwise expansion of the duplex coil 69, and the valve 99opened to allow the: necessary portion of the exhaust fumes .to escape to the atmosphere without passing through the heating chamber 56. By experimentation, `the tension of the spring can be adjusted satisfactorily to deal with any grade of oil likely to be used for explosion engines.

Turning now to Figs. 1 to 6, the compressed air reaching the inlet 84, has been heated by passing through the heated cylinder, and also additionally heated by the pressure to which it has been subjected, and as a consequence the fuel oil passing through the coil 69 in the heated compressed air in the chamber 56 is heated to near the vaporizing point. It passes from the pipe 10 into the shallow circular chamber |81 formed in the cover |88 of the vaporizer 58. A disk |89 is secured between the cover |88 and the body of the vaporizer by the screws |90, which also serve to secure between the disk |89 Vand the body 58 the annular packing ring |9|.

A domelike baffle plate |92 is supported by the arms from the interior of the lower part of the vaporizer 58, the bottom of which is concave, as shown, so that any unvaporized oil that may run over from the baille plate I 92 will necessarily be directed to the outlet |93, having the seat therein for the upper end |94 of the float valve |95 in the float chamber I 96. |91 of the valve cooperates with the seat |91a in the outlet |98 connected by the nut |99 with the pipe 200 leading to the union 64 connected to the inlet of the pump 46, so that any unvaporized oil will flow directly back to the pump and not pass through the outlet 20| to the pipe 59, and thence to the engine. The pressure in the vaporizer will keep the float valve seated below and allow the unvaporized fuel oil to enter the chamber |96 until the oil therein rises high enough to lift the valve |95 and allow the accumulated oil to iiow back to the pump.

'I'he disk |89 has therein a plurality, preferably iive, of needle-valve seats 202, with which cooperate the needle valves 203 threaded through the hubs of the rings 204 screwed into recesses 205 in the bottomV of the cover |88. These recesses 205 have reduced circular openings 206 in the web forming the bottom of the chamber |81, these openings having their edges beveled to form seats for the valves 201 formedon the lower ends of the sleeves 208 through which the bodies of the needleV valves 203 extend, their upper ends being threaded and having thereon the nuts and set nuts 209 by which the tension of the helically-coiled expanding springs 2| 0 is regulated. The lower ends of these springs engage the tops of the short bearing sleeves 2|| threaded into apertures 2|2 in the cover |88 and registering with the valve seats 206. The sleeves 208 have the shoulders 2|3 which engage the bottoms of the sleeves 2|| when the valves 201 are seated. Secured on the sleeves 208 within the springs 2|0 are the collars 2I4 which have the tool holes 2|5 in their peripheries to insert a tool to hold the sleeve 208 from turning when the nuts 209 are being adjusted to regulate the tension of the springs 2|0, which are set at different tensions so that the valves 201 will open at different pressures and allow the oil to pass the needle valves in fine streams and meet the compressed air entering the vaporizer.V One of being set at the highest pressure and opening only as an auxiliary valve when the valve 63 is Wide open and 50% air and-50% fuel oil is ad- The lower end minted. whenavalve 2u1 is-cicsed, the-shoulder 213 Yseats against the bottom of its sleeve 2-11 to 'prevent leakage upward, and when it is wide would necessarily be present if packing were used to prevent leaking. With this arrangement the tool hole 2152* will be placed directly in the vsleeve 21183, instead of in the omitted collar'2l4.

In order to distribute the compressed and heated air equally all around the inner periphery of the Vaporizer 58 so that the fuel from each of the apertures l252 -will be equally subjected to the action of the compressed and heated air, I form in the under side of the disk 189 an annular channel 211 which, when the engine is not running, is closed by the expanding ring 218 pressed upward against it by the plurality, preferably eight, of helically-coiled expanding springs 219 seated in the recesses 2211 provided for them in the inwardly projecting flange 221 formed on the interior of the vaporizer 5S, and preferably having the plane surface at its top to form a seat for the ring 218 when the latter is forced down to the limit by the highest possible pressure of' the compressed air. As this ring is pushed down, the compressed air escapes, forming a sheet, as it were, that rushes toward the center and heats all the oil and air that is coming from the needle valves to an equal temperature, and because of the heated compressed air and the heated oil and air, both well toward the flash point of the latter, the vaporization is thoroughly eiected.

The union 64 has the spring-pressed check valve E5, shown in section in Fig. 11, and the nuts 222, cooperating with the threaded upper end of the valve stem 223, enable me to adjust the tension of the spring 2211 so as to draw in any desired percentage, preferably 50-50, of air to mix with the oil as it is delivered by the pump 46 to the vaporizer 58. fuel oil and air delivered by the pump 46, spraypressed air, serves thoroughly to vaporize the fuel oil and produce a mixture delivered under a high pressure to the engine, thus utilizing its thermal units in the most efficient manner posrnovel carburetor, I do not herein claim the same,

as it is claimed in my application No. 276,253,

filed May 27, 1939, of which this application is an enforced division.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the forms which I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable ofV modifications, and that I do not desire to be lim- The action of the heatedv s ited Yin the interpretation of the following claims Ying past the needle valves 2113 into the comexcept as may be necessitated by the state .of the prior art. 1

What I claim'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United VStates is:

1. In a power generating system, the combination with an explosion engine and aircompressor, of a vaporizer, a conduit leading from 4an oil supply to said vaporizer, means for forcing oil through'said conduit, means for heating the oil ,as it passes through said conduit before Vit reaches the Vaporizer, a thermostat controlled by the heat of the oil before it reaches the vaporizer, and connections from the thermostat to the heating means to modify its 'action Awhen the heat of the oil approaches a certain {predetermined degree before it reaches the -va porizer. 2. A power generating system as defined 'in claim 1,in which the heating means consists in part of a conduit leadingfrom the compressor outlet surrounding a portion of the oil supply conduit.

3. A power generating system as dei-ined in claim 1, in which the heating means consists in part of a conduit leading from the exhaust of the engine surrounding a portion `of the oil supply conduit.

4. A power generating system as defined in claim 1, in which the heating means consists of a conduit leading from the compressor outlet surrounding a portion of the oil supply conduit, together with a conduit leading from the exhaust of the engine and in turn surrounding so much of the compressor conduit as surrounds the oil supply conduit.

5. A power generating system as defined in claim 1, in which 'the heating means consists of a conduit leading from the exhaust of the engine surrounding a portion of the. oil supply conduit and in which said connections consist of a valve in the exhaust conduit between the exhaust outlet and where it surrounds the oil supply conduit, and connections from the thermostat to the valve to move it when the heat of the oil reaches the desired limit to shut off the .Y exhaust gases from the conduit about the fuel conduit.

6. A power generating system as dened in claim 1, in which the heating means consists in part of a conduitleading from the compressor outlet and opening into the vaporizer, and sur'- rounding a portion of the oil supply conduit.

7. A power generatingA system as dened in claim 1, in which the thermostat is formed by a part of the oil conduit which forms a duplex y helical coil. n

8. In a fuel vaporizer, the combination with a chamber adapted-to receive a liquid fuel, of an associated chamber adapted to receive air under` pressure, means for discharging the fuel in jets from the fuel chamber into the air chamber,

means for heating the air and the fuel before theyenter their respective chambers, a thermo-` stat affected by the temperature of the air before it enters the air chamber, and connections from the thermostat to the heating means to reduce its action when the temperature of thel fuel reaches a certain point.

9. A fuel Vaporizer as defined in claim 8, which is provided with means for adjusting thetema conduit for the air passing through a conduit for exhaust vapors from an engine.

11. A fuel Vaporizer as defined inclaim 8, in which the liquid fuel is also heated by the same means before it enters the fuel chamber.

12. A fuel vaporizer as defined in claim 8, in which the means for heating the air consists of a conduit for the air passing through a conduit for exhaust vapors from an engine, and in which the liquid fuel is also heated by a conduit therefor passing through a portion of the air conduit.

13. In a gas engine, the: combination with a volatilizer, of means for supplying oil thereto under pressure, means for delivering compressed air to the volatilizer, and means for heating the compressed air from the exhaust fumes of the engine which in turn heats the oil, all before the oil and compressed air reaches the volatil- 12er.

14. In a gas engine, the combination with a 2o under pressure, means for delivering compressed air to the volatilizer, means for heating the compressed air from the exhaust fumesy of the engine which in turn heats the oil, all before the oil and compressed air reaches the volatilizer, and a thermostat controlling the application of the heat of the exhaust fumes to the compressed air to regulate the temperature at which the oil is delivered to the volatilizer. y

15. In a gas engine, the combination with a volatilizer, of means for supplying oil thereto under pressure, means for delivering compressed air to the volatilizer, means for strongly heating the compressed air from the exhaust fumes of the engine, which compressed air in turn heats the oil before it enters the volatilizer, and a, thermostat controlling the application of the exhaust fumes to regulate the temperature at which the oil is delivered to the volatilizer.

WILLIAM LISTER. 

